(Reuters) – France’s Klepierre started seeing signs of recovery in the second quarter despite reporting a fall in revenues as its shopping mall network reopened, it said on Tuesday.
The Paris-headquartered group said earlier this year it expected to reopen most of its shopping malls, closed due to COVID-19 measures and lockdowns for months, by the end of the year.
Revenues from shopping mall rents in the second quarter rose by 48% quarter on quarter to 188.5 million euros ($222.94 million) but were still down 28% compared to a year ago due to longer lockdowns.
Klepierre, the main landlord for some of Europe’s biggest retailers such as Inditex, H&M and Sephora, confirmed its cash flow target for 2021 of 1.80 euros per share.
The company added that it was unable to estimate the potential impact of the pandemic as the fast spread of the delta variant of COVID-19 threatens to trigger another round of lockdowns and restrictions.
($1 = 0.8455 euros)
(Reporting by Silvia Recchimuzzi and Federica Mileo in Gdansk; Editing by Chris Reese)
